Back in Tangkak

I went back to Tangkak last weekend.
Three years had passed since I last spent time in my hometown.

KFC used to be the only fast food franchise in the town.
Now there are Mary Brown’s and Pizza Hut.
And there are a few bubble teas outlets too.
I wonder why there isn’t a McDonald’s restaurant yet.

There used to be only one set of traffic lights at the main intersection of the town.
Now there are many traffic lights.
I wonder if the population is really growing.

I didn’t get to eat beef noodle soup because my dad doesn’t consume beef.
There’s always next time I believe.
My family is set to move in to the new house this month.
I will balik kampung more often.

Remember

I may not remember what you wore on the first day, but I do remember how I met you for the first time.
I remember how we talked along the way back to Ames from the airport.
I remember each and every single encounter between us, till the day we got together.

I remember every smile on your face in the past two years.
I remember every tear in your eyes, and I always wished I could cry your tears.

I remember all the sweet moments that we shared, for they are the sweetest memories in my heart.
I remember  all the fights that we had, for I deeply regret doing so.

I never forget.

If fate brought us together, why did it have to separate us?

That’s what happens when it comes to packing

As you may have known, I will be moving to Cedar Rapids at the end of the month.
As I was packing my stuff this afternoon, the feeling was heavy.
I dug out a lot of things that I didn’t even remember their existence, meaning I didn’t even know I still had them with me.
Such things included admission letter from Iowa State, I-20 from Nebraska-Lincoln, letters from banks, letters congratulating me for getting into Dean’s List, letters from DMACC, magazines from Institute of Industrial Engineers, and various letters with regard to housing, health insurance, and so forth.
The addresses on these letters consisted of my home address in Malaysia, my address at University Village, my address at Hyland, and my current address at Oakland.
They reflected an important part of my life – a part that will be remembered for many coming years.
It was kinda overwhelming when I had to dispose of them.
But I guess that’s what all of us need to go through when we embark on a new journey.

Apart from that, there’s a lot more packing to be done in the next few days.
I will inevitably need to deal with other things that I keep with me all these years – little things from friends, birthday presents and cards from friends, souvenirs from friends, stuff from past girlfriends, etc.
A metal ruler I got from a friend when we were at primary school is probably the one I keep the longest – around 12 years.
And yes, though I no longer use it since form 1 at secondary school, I bring it with me wherever I move to.
I also have a bookmark I received from a friend when we were at form 1 or 2. It has been around 9 years, and it is still on my table. I am certain that it will be with me for many more years.

Retrospection is what you do when it comes to packing, I guess.

Music and Memories

Music plays a vital part in our lives.
It can merely be something that we reach out to when we are bored. A simple click on the “play” button, we get to keep our ears busy and to avoid the awkward silence in the room.
However, oftentimes we find it way more important than it is in the aforementioned scenario.
If you care to replay your music playlists, you would realize that a lot of the songs you have listened to are capable of bringing back your memories.
I should probably put it this way – they represents certain memories of persons, places, and moments.

Chingy’s “Brand New Kicks” reminds me of all the strenuous workouts I had in my first summer in Ames. It was in my ipod all the time.

Colby O’Donis’ “What You Got” reminds me of Bharat, an intern I worked with when I was at Electrolux. This song was his favorite. When we were in his car, he would just repeat this song for a million times and never got tired of it.

Danity Kane’s “Damaged” reminds me of my early days as an intern at Electrolux. Life was a bit different back then as I needed to sleep early (like around 10). For some reason I liked this song a lot, and I kept listening to it over and over again.

David Archuleta’s “Crush” reminds me of a crush I had on a girl.

Debbie Gibson’s “Foolish Beat” reminds of my dad’s car. This song was in a CD in my dad’s car, and this CD was always my choice when I got to pick a CD to play in the car.

Fall Out Boy’s “This Ain’t A Scene, It’s An Arms Race” reminds me of the Florida trip I had with my Inti fellas back in the first summer. Why this song? Well, this song got into our (chee how, sam, wee wen, and me) conversation when we were in the car. Nice song!

Gwen Stefani’s “Sweet Escape” reminds me of my first semester when I lived at UV. Living far away from the crowd, studying hard, not knowing many people, good time.

Justin Timberlake’s “What Goes Around Comes Around” reminds me of the summer in which I lived at Hyland with a bunch of good friends. It was definitely great time. I have no doubt about that.

The Bangles’ “Eternal Flame” reminds me of the video xy made for me. I was once obsessed with this song back at Inti. xy made a video with this song being the background music as a gift for Valentine’s Day. I still have it with me.

Kanye West’s “Flashing Lights” reminds me of the cold days on which I walked to campus.

Timbaland’s “The Way I Are” reminds me of the many nights that I struggled at Black. Music never abandons me no matter where I am. Hopefully senior design project won’t give me a hard time.

Rihanna’s “Umbrella” reminds me of chris and the times we spent at Black. This was his favorite song, and then it became mine. I sang it when we were doing homework/assignments/lab reports in Black 0028. “ella ella, eh eh eh, under my umbrella…”

Taylor Swift’s “Teardrops On My Guitar” reminds me of a sad memory. Thank God it came to rescue me from falling in time.

Shayne Ward’s “Stand By Me” reminds me of the heartbreak and the teardrops caused by xy. Painful memories.

Shayne Ward’s “That’s My Goal” reminds me of the time I spent at IIT with xy. Painful memories, again.

Avril Lavigne’s “Together” reminds me of my first relationship. This song actually had nothing to do with the relationship. It was simply because I happened to be listening to it a lot during the relationship.

Michael Learns to Rock’s “Frostbite” also reminds me of my first relationship. The reason? Same as above.

That’s enough for now, I guess.
I should probably go to bed before the sun rises.

Memory Lane of Loves at First Sight

We pass through many different phases in our lives - from baby  to child, from child to teenager, from teenager to young adult, from young adult to grown-up, and from grown-up to senior.
As we undergo all these transitions, we meet a lot of people that we might remember forever or forget in a moment, be they acquaintances, friends, or soul mates.
But of all the people, how many of them will we remember the first time we meet them – the very beginning of a bond being formed between two people, the moment that is etched in our memories, the encounter that is worth remembering and reminiscing.
Allow me to call this moment “love at first sight” in this post. 

I realized that I don’t have a good memory of remembering people and things, let alone this love at first sight.
Hence, I decided to write this post, to pen all the loves at first sight that I still remember.
It is saddening to find out that the oldest that I can recall dates back my time at Inti only.
Childhood, kindergarten, primary school, secondary school – they are all gone.
This further strengthens my determination to write this post. 

Let’s take a stroll down the memory lane, my memory lane; and we shall begin with some of my IE friends.

 

Oliver aka theo.c

I still have very good memory of this. It was the second or third day I was in Ames.
The seniors, Nelson and Wee Jian, were kind enough to bring tt and I to Jordan Creek.
They rented a van, tt and I sat at the last row. Guess who was in front of us? It’s Oliver!
As sociable and talkative as he was, it was hard for one not to make friends with him.
So we three chatted along the way to Jordan Creek.
(Actually it was tt who did the talking most of the time. I was a quiet person.)

 

Chris aka Siti aka Teng

It was a very common encounter. Oliver, he and I took the same class, i.e. IE 271.
He was introduced to me by Oliver, which then marked the beginning of a friendship in life and a partnership in IE courses.
I still feel kinda bad for leaving him alone to deal with the devil of senior design class.

 

Jenn aka Mei Yoong

This was a common one too. Again, IE 271; again, introduced by Oliver.
What is worth to be pointed out is she did catch my eye at that time ’cause she was wearing a very short pants.
As a matter of fact, she was pretty hot that semester.

 

Yee Gin aka long kor

This was a funny one, and I still remember well.
Our first “real” encounter was in King Buffet. I couldn’t help but notice her because she was the only one whom I didn’t know in the group.
At the end of the dinner, she came to talk to Audrey whom I was right beside. Then Audrey introduced her to me.
We both found out we were IEs, and that led to the next topic – what classes we were taking.
“What??? You are taking Engr 101? How come I never see you?”
It turned out that we were both taking Engr 101, but we never noticed each other (it was a small class)!
I actually looked around in the class trying to see if there was any new cute girls that I hadn’t seen.
So one explanation that I couldn’t recognize her at the dinner could be she was not cute in my eyes.
But WTH? She was and is still cute!
I once suspected I got problem with my eyesight.

Let’s move on to other friends.

 

Rachel

To date I still remember this. It was an rather embarrassing one for me.
We met at the AMSISU oriention held at Brookside Park (it took me a while to recall the park’s name).
That time she was sitting on a bench with a few others while I was standing next to them.
Then she suddenly asked me, “So what year are you?”
It was a goddamn simple question but I couldn’t even answer it immediately.
Because I was thinking, “What does her question really mean? Is she asking me how old I am, what year I was born, or what year I am at school (as in freshman, sophomore, etc)?”
But yeah, now I know it means what year I was born. I will keep that in mind forever.

 

Yee Ling aka Michelle

You see, if I remember the loves at first sight with Chris and Rachel (Chris’ girlfriend), how can I not remember the one with Yee Ling (Chris’ sister)?
I indeed remember very well because I wrote about it on my blog.
It was at the potluck for Chinese New Year in 201 last year.
It was funny and yet heartbreaking.
For details please click on the following link: http://limjy.wordpress.com/2008/02/09/pieces-of-my-heart/

 

Joseph aka Dong

Here’s my dear housemate, Joseph dong.
The first time I met him was in Jordan Creek. Yes, it was also the day I first met Oliver.
He was with Aaron while I was with tt they all.
The first impression he gave me was he must be a city boy and a photography lover.
Little did I expect we would become housemates.
Well, this is life – things are always unexpected. 

 

Capella aka xiao bei bei

I saw Capella’s pictures on Facebook and msn before I met her. 
Why? Because tt had a crush on her and I was curious to know how she looked like.
The first time we met, I actually saw her walking to the car (I was at the backseat of the car).
She was quiet, talked very softly, and definitely the kind of girls that tt would like.
And yeah, big eyes!

I have a few more to go, but I think I should save them for the next time.
This post is long enough.
One day I will combine both posts and make it in one page. 
Till then, take care!